A man in a tunic with dreads in Roman North Africa Roman men and women, like other Indo-Europeans, originally seem to have worn a large piece of wool, wrapped around themselves. After they met people from Greece and Egypt, around 200 BC, they began to wear linen tunics (like T-shirts) under their wool robes, which was more comfortable. Roman leather [...]

Mary's tunic, preserved in a glass case in the treasury of Chartres cathedral in France Romantic story of Mary's dress About 800 AD, Empress Irene was ruling the Roman Empire in Eastern Europe and West Asia. Charlemagne was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe. According to a popular story, Irene wanted [...]

Medieval peasant clothing, from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (1400s AD, now in Chantilly) What did medieval people wear? In Medieval Europe, as in the Roman period, most people wore loose linen or wool tunics like big baggy t-shirts. History of linen Roman clothing All our medieval Europe articles How long were their tunics? Men mostly [...]

Chartres on the horizon Why was Chartres so important? Even though Chartres, near Paris, France, was only a small town, it had an important treasure: the dress that people said Mary was wearing when she gave birth to the baby Jesus (or maybe when she found out she was pregnant). Thousands of people came on pilgrimage every year to [...]

It was hot in the Islamic Empire. So people mostly dressed to protect themselves from the sun. The best way to keep from getting sunburns was to keep your skin covered with cloth as much as possible. At the same time, people also believed that God wanted them to cover up. They thought this especially about women, so that men [...]

Ancient Greek clothing: a Greek baby in a diaper, from Hellenistic Egypt Like Egyptian or Mesopotamian babies, Greek babies often wore nothing at all, but sometimes, as in this picture, they wore cloth diapers. If it was cold, of course, they would be more wrapped up. Children also often wore only cloth wrapped [...]

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